There are lots of reasons I sign up for races rather than simply going on nice, relaxed 5-milers, as I’ve been happily doing for the past several months. One of the chief reasons is motivation: To push harder, to go faster, to challenge myself more. To that end, over the weekend, I signed up for the Philadelphia Half-Marathon on Nov. 16.

I’m still planning to run the Virginia Beach Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon over Labor Day weekend. The jury’s still out on the Frederick Half-Marathon in early May. But even though my next official race obligation is several months down the road, I feel a greater sense of purpose and focus on my 5-milers, and a sense of nervous excitement about adding some longer, harder runs in the future.

Do you rely on race registrations to motivate you to run—or to run harder or longer than you would without a race looming in your future?